Exercise you dont "count"

I don't count:

-Housework
-Gardening (unless I'm doing the annual garden turnover. I have a raised bed vegetable garden and I log it as strength, lifting the big bags of soil).
-Playing fetch with the dogs
-Stairs. Ever.
-Housework
-Any walking that doesn't require a sports bra. So--- parking lots, work, none of that.

I count the following because it is either done for calorie burn or it is really out of the ordinary:

Stair climbing (and I mean, to get up and walk up and down 8 flights for exercise, not just to go to the next floor up to grab a cup of coffee, LOL...)

Swimming laps on purpose...getting in to cool off and paddling around while laying out doesn't count.

Going for walks - around the block or the campus multiple times for activity's sake.

Yard work beyond the norm - digging, tilling, hauling concrete sacks - stuff like that.

My regular workouts (lifting and cardio).

Nothing else counts, because I also did it while gaining weight.

Oh! And I DID wear my HRM to bed one night. (THAT was a hawt look, let me tell you, LOL!) Burn wasn't nearly what I would have thought it was. Probably would have been higher had I made him chase me around the house and catch me first. :bigsmile:

I have MFP set to sedentary because my exercise and activity level is irregular and I have a very sedentary desk job. So, I let me fitbit capture higher levels of activity like laying out pine straw last night and my warm-up for my resistance training (that I don't log calories for at all). I log activities for my TKD and HIIT classes and use 2/3 of what my HRM gave me when I used it a while back. I have mis-placed it so I can't check again for a more accurate number. I only bother to eat fitbit cal adjustments if I'm hungry - my built-in deficit is only .4 lbs a week anyway

I do plenty of activity that I don't count, but I see others doing so.
Mine include . . .
Housework
Parking far away from destinations
Climbing stairs at work
All the walking I do at work
Yardwork

What are yours?

I count any formal exercise and extra activity outside of the norm. Extra housework like spring cleaning or a heavy duty cleaning session gets counted but normal day to day housework doesn't. I would count cutting the lawn but not puttering in the garden. I might spend a half hour on focused household task that may even involve doing a bit of lifting but wouldn't count it. Most of my daily walking goes towards my daily step goal anyways but any walking done when the pedometer is turned off doesn't get counted.

I've reached my original weight goal so my activity tracking has changed. In all honesty, I see no problem with counting any activity that is not part of your normal life activity. What others track is none of my business. There's no hard or fast rules. It's your activity log so log as you see fit. If you burn 1,000 calories doing housework or 1,000 calories doing something else, you are still burning calories. The important point is you are being active. If your goal is fitness, then it becomes more important that you are doing cardio and strength training which you would likely want to track as well but even that isn't written in stone.

I have a FitBit and let it capture the 'ordinary' stuff. Walking while shopping, walking at lunch, house work, yard work, etc. Some days it gives me a positive calorie adjustment because it figures my TDEE is greater than what MFP things my TDEE will be. I only log workout sessions like riding my bike, the elliptical, swimming, weight training, etc. In other words I log those times I set out to get hot and sweaty and burn calories.

I do plenty of activity that I don't count, but I see others doing so.
Mine include . . .
Housework
Parking far away from destinations
Climbing stairs at work
All the walking I do at work
Yardwork

What are yours?

Actually, you do probably count it...in your overall activity level which is where you should account for it.

I was assuming the OP meant like how some people count housework as workouts.

Two points - First, it is no one's business what someone else counts as a workout. Second, how do you know that particular activity is not a workout for that person? This is one reason why folks keep their diaries closed.

Fitbit logs for me...i only offset calories if my HRM says I burned more because Fitbit doesn't capture intensity very well

Never have i logged something like cleaning...but then again that's part of my life. for some people, it's an activity

I do the same. I think I should count housework sometimes though.

I only count strength training and cardio ... everything else is just considered life. If I want to eat some extra calories I'll go on a brisk walk

I'll change my activity level up a notch if I'm landscaping big time, such as installing trees, "hardscape", cement work etc...

I only add exercise that require me to put on my MA uniform or workout clothes.

Who cares how someone logs it? If they aren't meeting their goals then they should change how they did it. When I first started, I listed my activity level as sedentary and it was a game for me each day to see how many calories I could earn. Now, meh, too much work, activity level is set to my actual level, so I don't include 'daily life' in my activities any more. I really don't care how anyone else chooses to manage theirs either.

My Fitbit tracks most of my daily activity; it varies a lot from day to day, so I set my level to Sedentary and let MFP and Fitbit sort out my calories. I only log burns for things the Fitbit doesn't track accurately -- weight lifting, rowing, Pilates, martial arts, messing around with a hula hoop, whatever. HRM estimate where it's convenient and applicable to wear one, database estimate where it's not.

ETA: I guess there is one form of "exercise I don't count" -- I often carry a 15-20 pound backpack to and from work (2-3 miles total) or carry a 10-12 pound waist pack during events. That walking is just logged as Fitbit steps. It's a difference, but I don't think it amounts to much.

I do the same. I think I should count housework sometimes though.

Maybe!

There are factors to consider. Two years ago (when I entered a lot of those daily activities mostly for fun) I had my settings at couch potato and my calories at 1200/day. Any activity of not sitting on the couch is extra and burns calories. I did eat the calories back and I should have. I still lost weight. I was not being a couch potato and now that I know more 1200 calories is WAY below my BMR. I can't really remember but I probably logged them as a reason to eat more because I was hungry, lol.

When I first started using MFP I did not know anything about nutrition or fitness. I had never counted a calorie in my life and the word macro had never crossed my mind I had no idea what it even was. I had never really done any kind of focused weight loss. I simply plugged in the numbers and used the app. I did not read these forums at all. I had no additional info. I don't really think I'm all that unusual.

I count walks that are specific to getting extra exercise (so the dog walks where i walk the whole time at a good pace not the ones where we go to the park and throw the ball) the walk home from work cycling to and from work - because those weren't the norm in the past and I base my activity on sedentary 7km walks or rides are not sedentary

I don't log routine walking around work unless I deliberately walked more than usual.
I log housecleaning if it's vigorous and more than the usual, but not if it's just 10-15 minutes of light cleaning. (Speaking of which, it is past time for me to do a thorough house cleaning!)
I also log yardwork. I'm surprised at the people who say they don't count yardwork.
I do not log cooking/food preparation. When I see that on people's diaries, it makes me laugh.